Business & Enterprise

“The companies that survive longest are the ones that work out what they uniquely can give to the world not just growth or money but their excellence, their respect for others, or their ability to make people happy. Some call those things a soul.”

Charles Handy, Social Philosopher

The Leigh Academy is proud to be a Business and Enterprise centre of excellence.

Within the Academy, the Business and Enterprise Learning Area gives students a strong understanding and appreciation of the world of business and international commerce. It deepens their financial and economic understanding and develops their entrepreneurial skills. Students become flexible and adventurous in their responses to the demands of business and society in a changing world.

Strong links and contacts with industry and commerce both at home and abroad underpin the learning experience of students as they gain practical experience and valuable insight into the world of work.

Enterprise Education

Enterprise education is an entitlement for all students at the The Leigh Academy. “Act Enterprisingly” – part of our motto – is central to the ethos of the Academy.  We place a high value on nurturing enterprise, creativity, initiative and risk taking – a “can do” culture.

We have adopted the Department for Education definition of enterprise and we currently place particular emphasis on enterprise capability and financial capability:

“Enterprise education consists of enterprise capability supported by better financial capability and economic and business understanding.”

• Enterprise capability is the ability to be innovative, to be creative, to take risks and to manage them, to have a can-do attitude and the drive to make ideas happen.  Enterprise capability is supported by:

• Financial capability which is the ability to manage one’s own finances and to become questioning and informed consumers of financial services.

• Business and economic understanding which is the ability to understand the business context and make informed choices between alternative uses of scarce resources.

Whilst providing opportunities to develop “entrepreneurship” (e.g. by running a mini enterprise), The Leigh Academy takes a broad approach to what constitutes “enterprise capability”, as demonstrated by the fourteen enterprising skills and attributes displayed on the pillars in the Academy’s Winter Garden:

• Reflection
• Risk taking
• Communication
• Kaizen
• Responsibility
• Teamwork
• Creativity
• Leadership
• Problem solving
• Decision making
• Analysis
• Resourcefulness
• Innovation
• Resilience

Leadership and teamwork in PE – e.g. Sports Leaders and Netball Organisers and Leaders programmes.This broad approach to enterprise capability reflects the wide range of specialisms at the Academy and the breadth of the Academy’s academic and vocational curriculum.    A few examples of Enterprise across the Academy include:

Problem-solving and innovation in Technology, e.g. The BP Greenpower Challenge

Creativity and Communication in Creative Arts, e.g. Creativity Week

Decision making and risk taking in Business and Enterprise, eg. The Academy Business Challenge.

The Aims of Enterprise Education at The Leigh Academy

We aim to:

• Raise attainment across the Academy by acting enterprisingly.
• Motivate students to become more enterprising in their approach to life and work
• Raise the aspirations of students and improve their self-confidence
• Increase students’ employability skills
• Develop students’ enterprise skills and competencies
• Improve students’ self-awareness of their enterprise capabilities
• Develop students’ wider belief in their ability to succeed
• Develop student-centred problem solving ability
• Improve familiarity with the requirements of the workplace.
• Develop enterprising teaching and learning
• Develop students’ understanding of different ethnicities, cultures, faiths and socio-economic groups in relation to enterprise capability.
• Develop students’ economic and business understanding and financial capability